The Peter K. O'Rourke Special Achievement Award

The Peter K. O'Rourke Special Achievement Awards recognize notable achievements in the field of highway safety during the prior calendar year by individuals, coalitions, organizations, nonprofit groups, businesses, government agencies, universities or programs. About Peter K. O'Rourke

2008 Winner: West Virginia LifeSavers Program

West Virginia's LifeSavers Program is a homegrown, creative
solution to improving seat belt use that has demonstrated
its effectiveness when combined with other behavioral
countermeasures.

In 2000, West Virginia had the second lowest seat belt use
rate in the nation at 49 percent. With the implementation of
Click It or Ticket (CIOT) and the West Virginia LifeSavers
program, the state's belt use rates climbed to a staggering 89
percent by 2007. This is a dramatic achievement given that
West Virginia's seat belt law is secondary. This increase in
belt use has also resulted in a steady decline in injuries.

The LifeSavers program is designed to increase officer
motivation and participation in the CIOT enforcement
campaign. Historically, only larger law enforcement
agencies have been recognized for their seat belt enforcement
efforts. Unlike these traditional incentive programs, the
West Virginia LifeSavers program centers on positive
reinforcement for individual officers. This innovative
approach recognizes any officer, regardless of the size of
his or her agency.

Awards are issued using a tiered system: officers receive
increasingly valuable awards based on their cumulative
enforcement efforts. Participating officers do not know
what levels of enforcement are needed for each award, thus
eliminating the perception of enforcement "quotas."

Another unique aspect of the program is its use of a weighted
scoring system, which allows officers from small and very
small agencies to have an equal opportunity to receive the
awards. Additionally, all participating officers are tracked
by individual name rather than agency. Therefore, when
members move to another agency within the state, their
individual credits can continue to accumulate.

For the modest cost of $40,000 a year in federal funds,
the West Virginia LifeSavers program provides a unique
opportunity to unite nearly 1,000 officers from more than
125 different agencies to work independently toward a
common goal of saving lives and reducing the number of
serious injuries on West Virginia highways.